B2C Virtual Summits: A Life-Changing 6-Figure Card Making Summit with Brandi Mahon
When you go into a summit, it's easy to focus on the surface-level benefits like money and list growth. But what if your impact could be a whole lot wider?
What would it look like to not only change the income you expect to make each month but your entire industry?
If you've ever doubted that B2C summits can work and make an impact, this one's for you.
This week we're talking with Brandi Mahon who did just that with her Card Maker Success Summit.
We'll dive into details such as:
- how she worked with speakers who weren't used to summits and didn't have email lists
- how she landed sponsors
- how her industry is changing as a result of her event
- a behind-the-scenes look at her summit numbers
- and much more!
I'll let Brandi take it from here!
The Business Behind the 6-Figure Summit
I run a business called Stamp Me Some Love where I teach other card makers how to create cards. I have tutorials, classes, and a YouTube Channel, too. Before I came across Summit in a Box®, I hadn't considered hosting a summit, but I hadn't made a profit in the last four years, and something needed to change.
This was my last-ditch effort to make an impact and bring in a little money!
Why Brandi Chose To Run A Summit
I've been in the blogging sphere for so long and I've taken blogging courses, but none of them are crafted towards crafters and always said to be successful I need a digital course or product.
But when I came across the Summit Host Hangout Podcast and heard so many success stories, I wondered if I could tweak the summit idea to fit crafters.
I jumped in and started to plan a summit!
The Card Maker Success Summit
The Card Maker Success Summit is a free, 4-day event. It was held in July with a focus on holiday cards. There were 25 speakers with pre-recorded presentations who I encouraged to use their creativity and make something they love and have fun with it. We also had live streams of myself and of sponsors where they would create a project or demo their product.
I wanted this to be a hands-on summit with step-by-step instructions on how to make the card. So we positioned the summit in a way that attendees can walk away with a design, copy it, and replicate it for personal use. A lot of card makers feel nervous to copy someone else's work, but I made that the whole point of our presentations.
This also positioned well for our sponsors since their products were being used in presentations.
My Experience With Sponsors
I didn't have any sponsorship experience, so I met with Nicole Batey at Fempreneur Online who spent some time with me to plan out my activations and help me figure out what I needed for a sponsorship deck. It was invaluable!
I didn't have any statistics to share with potential sponsors, but I told them I expected about 5000 attendees (we ended up with over 10,000!) and we ended up with 12 sponsors!
Some sponsorships were paid while some gave away a product. From that experience, I have data to share with sponsors next time such as click-through rates and other data points. We already have 23 sponsors for our summit next month!
The All-Access Pass
The all-access pass included a lot of great things from our speakers and sponsors, such as:
- speaker presentations
- live streams we did through the summit
- bonuses from our speakers
- bonuses from our sponsors
As a speaker, they could link a freebie and mention it in their video, but if they wanted to they could add something digital to the all-access pass. Many speakers added a video tutorial or exclusive content for the VIP members. The sponsors added a VIP promo code for all-access pass holders.
The all-access pass prices broke down like this:
- $39 fast action price (sold 1974)
- $59 early bird/before the summit price (sold 470)
- $79 during the summit price (sold 42)
- $139 at the close of and post-summit price (sold 2)
Conversion Rates
Our registration page conversion rate was 49% and the all-access pass converted at 20%. Most of our sales came from the fast action all-access pass. It was a no-brainer for attendees to grab all that value for such a low price.
We did get a little pushback from attendees because they weren't expecting to need to make a decision so quickly when they registered. Since the summit, I've used the fast action strategy on other things, so my audience is used to it now.
In the end, my total revenue was $105,000, including all-access pass sales and sponsorships. My goal was only $5000!
How to Market When Speakers Have No Email List
We had over 10,000 people sign up, even though my speakers didn't have email lists. But they had followings either on YouTube, Instagram, or their own Facebook groups.
They had such loyal followers that anything they promote to their followers, they jump right on.
Speaker Benefits Beyond the Summit
I've had a lot of speakers come to me after the summit and share how they changed the way they do business because of my summit. Now, speakers charge for their content instead of giving it all away for free.
Why I'll Do It All Again
Obviously, the large income boost was surprising and life-changing. It was a validation for me to know that I haven't been working in vain for the past 4-5 years.
I found something I'm passionate about. I was able to combine my hobby of making cards and this virtual summit to create an amazing experience for the attendees.
About Brandi
Brandi Mahon is the Creative Owner of StampMeSomeLove.com where she teaches crafters how to create professionally handcrafted cards. Brandi is a certified sign language interpreter for the deaf and after over 20+ years in that industry, she needed a new business that was not as taxing on her body.
Crafting since she was a child with her grandmother, Brandi decided that she wanted build a business that would allow her to be creative and still be her own boss. That's when she decided to take her hobby to the next level and created the blog which ultimately transformed into an online craft academy and craft shop. She totally nerds out over building online businesses and helping others do the same.
Crafter Mini Blog Course | Stamp Me Some Love Website | Card Maker Success Summit
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